Phuket News
-
Sponsored What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?
The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...
-
Migrant laborer dies after tumble from Phuket pick-up truck
PHUKET: A Myanmar national fell off the back of a pick-up truck and died on the road in Mai Khao in front of his wife and son yesterday afternoon. Saw Aung, 42, and four other Myanmar nationals, including his wife and son, were being taken to Takua Pa, Phang Nga to buy supplies when a tyre burst at the front…
-
Phuket student slays ex-girlfriend’s new love in knife attack
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for a 22-year-old Phuket student wanted for the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend’s new partner in a frenzied knife attack in Rassada early Thursday morning. Officers were called to an apartment block in Soi Yongkeng Muna-Utit, off Thepkrasattri Road, near Phuket Rajabhat University, at 6:30am. “There was a trail of blood leading from the…
-
Phuket man attacked after alleged rape of 14-year-old stepdaughter
PHUKET: A woman attacked her husband with a knife on Thursday after being told that he had repeatedly raped her daughter, who was his stepdaughter. The mother heard that her 14-year-old daughter was raped after the girl became pregnant and sought advice from relatives, said Maj KitthiphumThinthalang of the Thalang Police. “The mother slashed his head outside of a 7-Eleven…
-
Russian woman rescued at popular Phuket beach
PHUKET: Hours after finishing a first aid course as part of a “Safer Phuket” (story here) initiative, lifeguards rescued a Russian woman from the shallow surf of Phuket’s popular Nai Harn Beach. “The woman was standing in waist-high water when a large wave crashed into her. She seemed to be in distress, so we immediately ran out to rescue her,”…
-
DSI and FDA officers seize B10mn of illegal drugs with fake FDA labels
PHUKET: Illegal hormone drugs worth about 10 million baht targeted at the Chinese tourist market were seized by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officers yesterday. DSI officers declined to give details of the alleged effects of the traditional Chinese medicines, stating only that they were for “improved sexual performance”. However, at least one drug,…
-
Ousted Pian back in the Phuket race for Patong mayor
PHUKET: Former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, recently found guilty of vote fraud, is back on the battlefield for the chance to reclaim his position as leader of Phuket’s premier party town. Registration opened yesterday for Patong Mayor potentials and municipality council members amid a crowd of supporters. So far, Mr Pian has only one opponent, former Phuket MP Chalermluck Kebsab.…
-
Wastewater the source of rancid water on Phuket beach
PHUKET: The stinky, black water that blighted Karon Beach last month is the product of a faulty wastewater treatment system, Karon Village Chief (Kamnan) Winai Chidchiew revealed yesterday. Canals blocked by huge berms of soil and broken water pumps are the chief culprits, as they prevent water from being pumped from canals to treatment plants and cause more wastewater than…
-
Phuket officials lay into landslide concerns caused by Big Buddha construction
PHUKET: Landslide risks and water management concerns caused by the construction of Phuket’s Big Buddha image were on the table yesterday as officials met for the first time since work at the site slammed to a halt last month. Construction at the popular tourist attraction was put on hold after villagers filed a complaint and prompted an inspection of the…
-
Protected Phuket hillside slashed and burned
PHUKET: Four rai of forest on a hillside in Kamala was obliterated on Tuesday night to make room for a rubber plantation. “The area has been ruined – all the trees were cut down and burned,” said Phuket Natural Resources and Environment Office Chief Kasem Sukwaree this morning. “Terracing had already been put up in preparation for establishing a rubber…
-
Phuket Police set to launch nationwide manhunt for Patong headhunter killers
PHUKET: Patong Police are preparing to send an alert to every police station in the country in the hopes of apprehending three prime suspects for the murder of Myanmar worker Wai Phyo Kyaw, 22, whose decapitated body was found dumped on Patong Hill on March 9 (story here). “We have learned the names of three of the five men we…
-
Phuket Police seek arrest warrants for suspects in alleged kidnapping of Russians
PHUKET: Phuket Police are seeking arrest warrants for the two prime suspects involved in the alleged kidnapping of a Russian couple. The woman, Iana Strizheus, 22, was badly injured and in shock when she was found by a maid at the Blue Garden Resort and Spa at about 6pm on Sunday. She and her boyfriend, Alexey Slabinskiy, 39, were reported…
-
Phuket aims for 729-million-baht biofuel production facility
PHUKET: The island may be in for a cleaner and greener future as Phuket officials plan to request 729 million baht to build a biofuel production facility. “Organic waste from the entire province will be sent to the plant. It will be processed and turned into biofuel and the leftover matter subsequently turned into compost,” said Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO)…
-
Tourism Minister targets Phuket’s stolen passport trade
PHUKET: Recent news of the stolen passports trade in Phuket and the recently found Russian kidnap victim prompted a visit from Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister to the island yesterday to meet with officials and get to the bottom of the issues. “I came to Phuket to follow up on the cases concerning the stolen passports used to board missing…
-
Phuket police connect two local expats to Russian missing persons case
PHUKET: Police have identified the two Caucasian men who were seen with “missing” Russian woman Iana Strizheus, found injured and in shock in a hotel room on Sunday. “We are searching for the two men, who work in Phuket. At this time, we can’t reveal their names without jeopardizing the case,” Phuket’s top cop Ong-art Phiwruangnont said at a press…
-
Phuket Sports: Lee hits winning trail
PHUKET: Canada’s Richard T Lee learned a thing or two about the rewards of hard work and even a stroke of lady luck when he won his maiden title at the casino-backed Solaire Open last weekend. On Sunday, all these winning combinations propelled him towards the finish line and earned the 23-year-old his career breakthrough on the Asian Tour at…
-
Phuket Drive Thru: Woman blames car for surging into 7-Eleven
PHUKET: A woman parking her car outside a 7-Eleven in Phuket Town this afternoon ended up inside the store when the vehicle suddenly surged forward, injuring a 12-year-old girl in the process. Orathai Kaikong, 31, had pulled into a gas station on Phun Pol Road in Phuket Town with her boyfriend to buy snacks. “I was braking while pulling into…
-
Phuket’s B120mn road to Freedom Beach inches forward
PHUKET: The controversial new road planned to provide access to Freedom Beach, south of Patong, took a step closer to becoming reality as the project passed its third and final public hearing on Friday. About 80 of the 100 participants who joined the hearing, held at the Patong Merlin Hotel, voted to approve the project, rebounding from a 64 per…
-
Phuket national park encroachment investigation in full swing again
PHUKET: The plot thickened in the ongoing investigation into encroachment onto Sirinath Marine National Park yesterday as five former park chiefs were accused of signing documents allowing encroachment. “After reviewing several land titles from owners in the area, we discovered that five chiefs signed their names, making it legal for landowners to build on land that is part of Sirinath…
-
Blackout strikes third of island as Phuket sees year’s first rain
PHUKET: A blown transformer was responsible for a two-hour blackout in parts of Phuket on Saturday afternoon, said an official at the Phuket Provincial Electrical Authority (PPEA). Electricity shut off in Chalong, Rawai, Kathu, Patong, Kathu and some areas of Phuket Town at about 3pm. “After we got calls from the public, we sent a repair crew out. Within two…
-
Police post bodyguard for Russian ‘kidnap’ victim
PHUKET: Police have posted an around-the-clock guard outside the hospital room of the Russian woman who was found injured yesterday after having disappeared for nine days. Friends say the woman, Iana Strizheus, 22, may have been the victim of a kidnapping. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Ong-art Phiwruangnont visited Ms Strizheus at Bangkok Hospital Phuket last night. “We don’t know how…
-
Mysterious deaths of Quebec sisters may be due to lethal dose of pesticide
PHUKET: Two Canadian sisters who died mysteriously on the popular resort island of Phi Phi in 2012 may have ingested toxic amounts of a lethal pesticide called aluminum phosphide, reports Canadian news network CBC. The highly toxic pesticide is used to control bedbugs in some holiday hotels in Asia and may have contributed to the deaths of Audrey and Noemi…
-
Rain breaks Phuket’s worst drought in 30 years
PHUKET: The skies parted to deliver scattered showers across the island late this afternoon to break Phuket’s lowest recorded rainfall between the months of January and March for 30 years. Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday morning chaired an annual meeting at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation-Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) office to plan water usage strategies for the dry season. “After receiving…
-
Dazed and confused: Danish expat crashes into Thalang store
PHUKET: Police are still looking for an explanation as to what caused a car driven by a Danish expat to fly off the road and plunge into an appliance store in Thalang on Thursday evening.Police arrived at the scene, about 250 meters from Baan Nai Klam Mosque on the southbound side of Thepkrasattri Road, at about 6:30pm.The 50-year-old driver, Per…
-
Australian long-term expat dies after fall from motorbike in Phuket
PHUKET: An Australian expat died early yesterday morning in Phuket after allegedly driving his motorbike one-handed.“The accident happened at about 1:50am. Eyewitness accounts described Wayne Anthony Stone driving his motorbike at high speeds with only one hand holding the handlebars,” Navin Petchan of the Kamala Police told the Phuket Gazette.“Mr Stone fell off his bike at a main junction in…
-
Murder brings curfew for Myanmar workers in Patong
PHUKET: Patong police announced today that Myanmar workers living in Patong will be arrested if they are found outside of their camps after 10pm. The curfew is in response to the murder of a Thai man by a group of Myanmar nationals early Tuesday morning in Patong. “Construction operators typically keep the passports of their workers. If we stop workers…
-
Chinese tourists safe after brakes fail on Phuket’s Patong Hill
PHUKET: The driver of a Phuket tour bus avoided a serious accident on Patong Hill this morning by running the bus off the road before driving down the steep slope on the east side of the hill.Bus driver Sutthichai Pohad was ferrying about 20 Chinese tourists from Patong to Phuket Town at about 8am when he realized the brakes were…
-
Phuket Airport customs officers nail drug mule with B7mn of ya ice
PHUKET: Customs officers at Phuket International Airport on Tuesday arrested a drug mule attempting to smuggle 7 million baht of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) from China into Phuket. The 37-year-old woman, Pornphat Wattanachaisen, was on a watchlist for possible involvement in drug smuggling when she departed Bangkok to China, said Phuket Airport Customs Director Montira Cherdchoo. “We learned that Ms…
-
PGM CCM Rhaman Putra Championship Reduced to 54 Holes
The PGM CCM Rahman Putra Golf Championship, which is the second event to be played on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this season, will be decided over 54 holes, tournament officials announced on Friday. The third and final round of the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) ADT event is scheduled to tee off at 7:45am (local time) and conclude on Saturday due…
-
Special Report: Phuket’s stolen passports shine light on illegal migrant corridor to Europe
Special Report Passports stolen in Phuket that were used to board ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have placed Phuket in the center of an international maelstrom. Thousands of passports are reported lost or stolen in Thailand each year, and the region is gaining a reputation as a gateway for international asylum seekers to reach Europe. The Phuket Gazette’s Saran Mitrarat…
-
Shark killed off Phuket Beach raises online ire
PHUKET: Photos posted online of a foreigner killing a small shark at Kata Noi Beach prompted outrage, but the act was legal, a marine official said. The pictures, posted on the Go Eco Phuket Facebook page (click here) yesterday, showed a man in the act of killing the shark on a rock. The post read, “We just received these awful…
Phuket is a province in the south of Thailand. Phuket's beaches face the Andaman Sea allowing the west coast beaches fantastic sunsets right throughout the year. If you're looking for news in Phuket, go to thethaiger.com/phuket Or follow our instant news in our Facebook pages.
The good news is that Phuket is famous for its foodie scene with an enormously diverse range of local and international foods - Phuket and southern favorites, street food along with international choices catering for the 12 million visitors to the island each year. Thaiger follows Phuket news and information 24 hours a day with regular updates.
Phuket is only 'just' an island with a 300 metre bridge linking it to Thailand's mainland. We're always reporting in the news that the channel beneath is frequently dredged to maintain Phuket's status as an island. On the other side of Sarasin Bridge is the Province of Phang Nga.
Getting to Phuket is easy as the island has land, air and sea connections. Phuket is also used as a take-off point for local island trips as Thailand's largest island is surrounded by over 30 pristine islands. Koh Phi Phi and the famous Maya Bay are always in the news and would be the best known of the island's just off Phuket's shores.
Phuket is an island and a province. It's the largest island in Thailand – 48 km north to south, 21 km east to west.
It's about 20% smaller, in area, than Singapore but much less densely populated. Whilst the island nation of Singapore boasts a population of nearly 6 million, Phuket has a permanent population of around 400-450,000 (but varies a lot with the influx of tourists and a workforce that is always changing). Most of Phuket remains jungle and tropical rainforest despite an acceleration of development over the past 20 years.
Unlike some of Thailand's other popular islands (that are in the Gulf of Thailand), the news is that Phuket is located in the Andaman Sea.
Phuket is 878 km north of the equator.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.